Bahamas: On 25 June the Bahamian daily
The Nassau Guardian cited Minister of National Security Bernard Nottage and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell as saying that neither official was aware that the US Department of Homeland Security had been quietly testing Predator drones over the Bahamas for 18 months. The remarks were in response to an article published by the
LA Times two days earlier, which cited “US officials” as saying that after testing the drones, “the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand the unmanned surveillance flights into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to fight drug smuggling”. According to the
LA Times, “for the recent counter-narcotics flights over the Bahamas, border agents deployed a maritime variant of the Predator B called a Guardian with a SeaVue radar system that can scan large sections of open ocean. Drug agents can check a ship's unique radio pulse in databases to identify the boat and owner.” According to
The Nassau Guardian, Nottage had asked the foreign ministry to look into the matter.
Guyana: On 26 June the Government of Guyana signed an agreement with Anadarko Guyana Company, a subsidiary of the US-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Anadarko) – one of the world’s largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies - to undertake exploration in the deep waters of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone. According to a press release issued by Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, discussions between the company and senior government officials including President Donald Ramotar resulted in an agreement to “commence studying available data for the concession acreage, which will be referred to as the “Roraima Block,” in greater detail with a view to identify leads that could result in prospects favourable for drilling to locate potential resources of petroleum.”
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